“There is no excuse for turning a blind eye to a child’s pain’, Home Secretary James Cleverly said. “Having listened to the voices of victims and survivors and reviewed the work of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, we are working at pace to get a mandatory reporting duty for child sexual abuse onto the statute book”.
<p class=”last-child”>We will continue use all levers at our disposal to tackle this horrific crime and keep women and children safe.”
What is bullying?
Bullying is intentional behaviour that hurts someone else. It includes name calling, hitting, pushing, spreading rumours, threatening or undermining someone.
It can happen anywhere – at school, at home or online. It’s usually repeated over a long period of time and can hurt a child both physically and emotionally.
Types of bullying
Bullying can take different forms. It could include:
- physical bullying: hitting, slapping or pushing someone
- verbal bullying: name calling, gossiping or threatening someone
- non-verbal abuse: hand signs or text messages
- emotional abuse: threatening, intimidating or humiliating someone
- exclusion: ignoring or isolating someone
- undermining, constant criticism or spreading rumours
- controlling or manipulative behaviour
- making silent, hoax or abusive calls.The following types of bullying are also hate crimes:
racial, sexual, transphobic or homophobic bullying
bullying someone because they have a disability.
What is cyberbullying?
Cyberbullying is bullying that takes place online. Unlike bullying offline, online bullying can follow the child wherever they go, via social networks, gaming and mobile phone. A person can be bullied online and offline at the same time.
Effects of bullying
The effects of bullying can last into adulthood. At its worst, bullying has driven children and young people to self-harm and even suicide.
Children who are bullied:
- may develop mental health problems like depression and anxiety
- have fewer friendships
- aren’t accepted by their peers
- are wary and suspicious of others
- have problems adjusting to school, and don’t do as well.All children who are affected by bullying can suffer harm – whether they are being bullied, bully others or witness bullying. It’s important all children get support if they are being bullied, or if they are displaying bullying behaviours towards others.
Who’s at risk
Any child can be bullied for any reason. If a child is seen as different in some way, or seen as an easy target they can be more at risk.
This might be because of their:
- race or ethnic background
- gender
- sexual orientation.Or it could be because they:
- appear anxious or have low self-esteem
- lack assertiveness
- are shy or introverted.Popular or successful children are also bullied, sometimes because others are jealous of them. Sometimes a child’s family circumstance or home life can be a reason for someone bullying them.
Disabled children can experience bullying because they seem an easy target and less able to defend themselves.
Types of cyberbullying
Cyberbullying can include:
- sending threatening or abusive text messages
- creating and sharing embarrassing images or videos
- trolling – the sending of menacing or upsetting messages on social networks, chat rooms or online games
- excluding children from online games, activities or friendship groups
- shaming someone online
- setting up hate sites or groups about a particular child
- encouraging young people to self-harm
- voting for or against someone in an abusive poll
- creating fake accounts, hijacking or stealing online identities to embarrass a young person or cause trouble using their name
- sending explicit messages, also known as sexting
- pressuring children into sending sexual images or engaging in sexual conversations.What is emotional abuse?
Emotional abuse is any type of abuse that involves the continual emotional mistreatment of a child. It’s sometimes called psychological abuse. Emotional abuse can involve deliberately trying to scare, humiliate, isolate or ignore a child.
Emotional abuse is often a part of other kinds of abuse, which means it can be difficult to spot the signs or tell the difference, though it can also happen on its own.
Types of emotional abuse
Emotional abuse includes:
- humiliating or constantly criticising a child
- threatening, shouting at a child or calling them names
- making the child the subject of jokes, or using sarcasm to hurt a child
- blaming and scapegoating
- making a child perform degrading acts
- not recognising a child’s own individuality or trying to control their lives
- pushing a child too hard or not recognising their limitations
- exposing a child to upsetting events or situations, like domestic abuse or drug taking
- failing to promote a child’s social development
- not allowing them to have friends
- persistently ignoring them
- being absent
- manipulating a child
- never saying anything kind, expressing positive feelings or congratulating a child on successes
- never showing any emotions in interactions with a child, also known as emotional neglect.
Signs of emotional abuse
There might not be any obvious physical signs of emotional abuse or neglect. And a child might not tell anyone what’s happening until they reach a ‘crisis point’. That’s why it’s important to look out for signs in how a child is acting.
As children grow up, their emotions change. This means it can be difficult to tell if they’re being emotionally abused. But children who are being emotionally abused might:
- seem unconfident or lack self-assurance
- struggle to control their emotions
- have difficulty making or maintaining relationships
- act in a way that’s inappropriate for their age.The signs of emotional abuse can also be different for children at different ages.
Signs in babies and toddlers(Tab content expanded)
Babies and pre-school children who are being emotionally abused or neglected might:
- be overly-affectionate to strangers or people they don’t know well
- seem unconfident, wary or anxious
- not have a close relationship or bond with their parent
- be aggressive or cruel towards other children or animals.
If a child reveals abuse
A child who is being emotionally abused might not realise what’s happening is wrong. And they might even blame themselves. If a child talks to you about emotional abuse it’s important to:
- listen carefully to what they’re saying
- let them know they’ve done the right thing by telling you
- tell them it’s not their fault
- say you’ll take them seriously
- don’t confront the alleged abuser
- explain what you’ll do nextreport what the child has told you as soon as possible.
Who’s at risk
Any child, from any background, can be at risk of emotional abuse. But some are more vulnerable than others.
Children who are emotionally abused are often suffering another type of abuse or neglect at the same time – but this isn’t always the case.
When a family is going through a tough time, parents and carers might find it difficult to provide a safe and loving home for their children. This can happen when families are experiencing:
- relationship problems
- family arguments
- money problems or unemployment
- mental health issues
- poverty
- addiction to drugs or alcohol
- domestic abuse.What is domestic abuse?
Domestic abuse is any type of controlling, bullying, threatening or violent behaviour between people who are or have been in a relationship. It can also happen between adults related to one another. It can seriously harm children and young people, and experiencing domestic abuse is child abuse.
It’s important to remember that domestic abuse:
- can happen inside and outside the home
- can happen over the phone, on the internet and on social networking sites
- can happen in any relationship and can continue even after the relationship has ended
- both men and women can be abused or abusers.
Types of domestic abuse
Domestic abuse can be emotional, physical, sexual, economic, coercive or psychological, such as:
- kicking, hitting, punching, cutting or throwing objects
- rape (including in a relationship)
- controlling someone’s finances by withholding money or stopping someone earning
- controlling behaviour, like telling someone where they can go and what they can wear
- not letting someone leave the house
- reading emails, text messages or letters
- threatening to kill someone or harm them
- threatening to another family member or pet.
If a child reveals abuse
If a child talks to you about domestic abuse it’s important to:
- listen carefully to what they’re saying
- let them know they’ve done the right thing by telling you
- tell them it’s not their fault
- say you’ll take them seriously
- don’t confront the alleged abuser
- explain what you’ll do nextreport what the child has told you as soon as possible.
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